Ingrid Bilton
Upon graduation from the University of Winnipeg Theatre Arts Program, Ingrid received her teaching degree at the University of Alberta. In Edmonton Ingrid enjoyed a long career teaching Drama and English in the public school system to students with a wide variety of ages and ability levels. More than anything, Ingrid believes in the transformative power of drama education in the life of a child. “What subject,” she reflects, “is better suited to explore the human condition, to promote compassion, and to foster mental discipline.” Ingrid is delighted to remain in touch with dozens of former students, many of whom have gone on to distinguish themselves in theatre and film careers.
Since arriving on the coast in 2007, Ingrid has been actively involved with the Driftwood Players as actor, director, stage manager and assistant producer. She is a co-founder and instructor with DTS, and has directed many of our productions, including “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”, “Alice in Wonderland”, “All the World’s a Stage”, “The (Almost) Totally True Story of Hansel and Gretel”, and “Mother Goose is Eaten By Werewolves”.
Sandi McGinnis
After studying 3 years with the renowned instructors from the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles, Sandi graduated her double major in English and Theatre Arts Intensive with Honors and a Theatre Award. Since her return to Canada in 1976 she has worked in the professional Vancouver Theatre scene off and on over the years.
For more than 30 years her major projects have been focused in our local Theatre Community. She has collaborated with various groups and individuals on a variety of theatre, dance and music adventures. In 1983 she became a Director on the Board of the Sunshine Coast Arts Council and in 1989 she co-produced a 10 day Arts Festival. She continued producing travelling artists’ productions and creating original local performance events at the Arts Council for next 12 years.
In 2001 she became a technician at Heritage Playhouse. Currently she is President of Driftwood Players and was a founding member of the Driftwood Theatre School. 2015 marked the beginning or her work as discipline Chair for Speech and Dramatic Arts on the Board of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Performing Arts with a view to rebuilding a forum for the talents of young and mature orators and actors.
As well as producing and technical theatre, Sandi has designed and painted sets, created costumes, acted, directed, adapted prose for performance and written a one woman play.
“It is a wonderful honour to witness the personal growth of our students as they develop into skilled thespians and expand their horizons in the world at large. The magic of theatre is truly a transformative experience for everyone involved.”
Gabriel Leonard Ditmars
Gabriel Leonard Ditmars (also locally known as Gabriel Ryan) is a locally raised actor, dancer, writer, general arts enthusiast, childcare worker, farm worker and camp counsellor. He is celebrating his 11th year being involved with Driftwood Theatre School; he received regular training and performance opportunities from D.T.S. for over half of his life, and this upcoming fall/spring semester will be his third semester as an instructor for D.T.S. Other theatrical acting training of interest includes regular Young Shakespearians workshops at Bard On The Beach throughout most of his teenage years, and a fascinating recent “Introduction to Meisner Technique” workshop with Evan Schulte.
Sally Williams
Sally’s formal training began at The Ryerson Theatre School, Acting Division. In the 1980’s her attention turned to somatic inquiry and movement / dance. Sally holds a BA in Dance from Simon Fraser University. She taught Dramatic Art for the Citadel Theatre’s Developmental Drama program and for the Alberta Department of Culture. In Vancouver Sally set up summer theatre workshop initiatives at the The North Shore Unitarian Church and taught creative process (acting) at the Vancouver Waldorf High School while studying for three summers at the Steiner Collage, Sacramento, Ca.. Prior to performing in musicals and plays and directing ‘Art’ by Yasmina Reza on the Sunshine Coast Sally’s most ambitious project as a performer involved her long time collaboration with Valen Watson. ‘Kokol from Massett’ was presented at Vancouver’s Fringe Festival and a year later in Los Angeles and Kirov, Russia.